


these moments in vibrant hues

by ebenroot



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Pining, non-skating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 03:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9415529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebenroot/pseuds/ebenroot
Summary: “Phichit Chulanont. I post aesthetically pleasing pictures of the park next to my apartment, a reasonable amount of selfies, and hamsters. Lots of hamsters.”“Leo de la Iglesia. I caption most of my pictures with relevant lyrics and have the occasional selfie, but I like to take pictures of stuff I think is funny. Like, probably sixty percent of my Instagram is just weird shit I find on the subway going home.”--in which Leo likes Phichit, but isn't sure Phichitlike-likeshim





	

**Author's Note:**

> another three-day one shot
> 
> title from "coffee" by Miguel

“Not that it’s any of my business how you choose to spend your money, but haven’t you’ve seen this movie for the past three weeks in a row?” 

The guy standing on the opposite side of the counter of Leo, blinks. He glances down at the counter where he just now dumped three boxes of Milk Duds and two boxes of Red Hots. His ticket stub that is marked for  _The King and the Skater_ in theatre three lies just a few inches away from where his iPhone rests on the counter.

His eyes look back up to Leo, and a perfect eyebrow arches upwards in confusion.

“What’s your point?” he asks. It’s not in anyway irritated that Leo is stepping out of the normal protocol of ‘hi, how may I help you?’ before getting the food order and sending them off with an overly cheerful ‘thank you and enjoy the movie’.

Leo shrugs, punching in the code for Milk Duds to ring up. “I don’t know. I’m just wondering if the movie is  _that_ good. Most of the people that I see walk out of that movie have this look of mental constipation on their faces, so it kind of makes me wonder,” Leo says.

He moves his elbow out of the way so Guang-Hong can set the guy’s two sodas down along with his large popcorn, then rings him up for the Red Hots.

The guy gives a snort, placing hands on his hips. “Well, first off, you need to view that movie with an open mind. If you take too much time trying to criticize and analyze everything, then you’re going to miss out on the experience,” he explains. “You need to watch it.  _I_ can’t even explain to you how good the movie is.”

Leo hums. “Thirty-five forty-eight,” he announces. The guy reaches into his back pocket for his wallet, and Leo notes the hamster keychain hanging out of one of the card sleeves. He hands Leo a forty-dollar bill and Leo gets him his change and the receipt.

It’s a show in of itself to watch as the guy gathers all of his food into his arms and expertly holds his phone to take a quick selfie. With that and quick thanks thrown in Leo and Guang-Hong’s direction, the guy hurries off to his movie and leaves a small trail of popcorn behind him.

“What’s your opinion on him?” Leo asks Guang-Hong when he sees the guy disappear out of his line of sight.

Guang-Hong blinks. “Uh. . .he’s okay?”

Leo nods his head. “Yeah, he’s alright,” he mutters to himself, and goes to grab a broom to clean up the spilled popcorn trail.

 

* * *

 

The guy comes in one week later with another ticket stub for  _The King and the Skater_ and an order for two cherry slushies and two large popcorns. Leo never pays attention to who comes in and out of the front doors from the outside ticket booth, so he has no idea if this guy ever comes to the movies alone or with a date or a group of friends. 

He has to come with  _somebody_ ; no way this guy can eat this much popcorn that’s in a container the size of a two-year old toddler.

“Have you watched the movie yet?” the guy asks Leo right after he calls the order out and Guang-Hong starts working on the slushies first.

“No, haven’t gotten around to it,” Leo said with a crooked smile. The guy gives a small pout and crosses his arm over his chest.

“Dude, you  _work_ at the movie theaters. You can’t just sneak in or something?” the guy suggests in a low whisper like he’s talking about some grand conspiracy instead of sneaking into a movie without paying.

“Well I  _could_ but I can’t. Not because I wouldn’t want to, but I’d rather avoid the nagging from my co-worker,” Leo says with a laugh. Georgi is  _okay_ , but he’s a total kiss-ass to Anya and if he catches Leo slacking off from his duties, he’s  _definitely_ going to go running to her so he can get some praise for being a model employee (if Anya actually cared).

The guy sighs as Leo rings up the slushies and popcorns. “Well, when’s your next off-day?”

“Saturday. But who wants to come to work on their off-day?” Leo asks, then says ‘twenty-seven twenty-three’ and takes the offered cash.

“You mean you never go to the movies just for fun?”

“Nah, not really. You lose the magic of going to the cinemas when you have to clean up after people that think the ground is a suitable trashcan for their drinks and nachos.”

The guy chuckles, taking the receipt and change to quickly shove in his pockets. “Well you  _got_ to promise me that you’ll see it because it’s going to  _blow your mind_. Betray your allegiance and see it at a different theater if you have to. The Cinema 48 in the city next over has comfier seats anyways.”

“Rude. Excuse us for not changing the cushions out for the last half century,” Leo quips and gains another laugh out of the guy. He gathers his food up into his arms, takes another selfie with his haul and throws a wink at Leo that makes something tickle just a bit at the back of Leo’s throat.

“Next time I come in here, I expect to have an in-depth discussion with you. Seminar-level discussion. Five or more valid sources,” the guy says with a shake of his phone in Leo’s direction. Leo nods his head and smiles, watching as the guy hurries to the theater and nearly runs into a standee for the newest Jean-Jacques Leroy film.

Leo looks over his shoulder at Guang-Hong as he refills the popcorn machine.

“When do you get off Saturday?”

 

* * *

 

Cinema 48’s seats  _are_ comfy. It reminds Leo of his abuelo’s old chair minus the scent of cigarette smoke, huge and so overly padded that he feels if he sits still long enough, he’ll sink right through the center. It’s comfortable enough for Guang-Hong; he’s already dozing off through the previews, exhausted from an eight-hour shift. 

The movie is exactly what Leo figured it would be and at the same time isn’t. It’s  _weird_ which is something Leo expected from seeing the confused expressions of patrons exiting the movie theater before, but despite the complicated plot, the music is  _really good_.

He finds himself tapping along to the beat and quietly murmuring some of the lyrics that he manages to pick up, eyes watching the movements of the dancers and explosions of bright colors that fill the large screen. The lines are a little cheesy, but the delivery and emotion of the actors keep Leo immersed in the story and on the edge of his seat as he watches the hero and the king skate together in perfect synchronization.

When the movie is over and Leo and Guang-Hong exit the theater, he notes that Guang-Hong has the look of mental constipation that he’s seen before and laughs.

“You don’t get it?” Leo asks and Guang-Hong rubs his face.

“Do you?” he responds, like he’s hoping Leo can explain.

“The card playing part was a little random, but it wasn’t that hard to follow,” Leo ponders aloud. “Hey, feel like going to grab something to eat?” Leo asks, because while Cinema 48 may have the comfiest seats you will ever sit on, they also have the smallest serving sizes of popcorn Leo’s ever seen.

And this place has the nerve to charge three dollars more when Leo could go back to his work and get his small-child-sized popcorn.

Guang-Hong shrugs. “I really need to get home and study for Chemistry. But at the same time, I don’t  _want to_ ,” Guang-Hong whines, turning his face up to the ceiling. “Senioritis is killing me and my grades~”

“Dude, you had senioritis when you were a  _freshman_.”

Guang-Hong just groans in response and Leo laughs. He takes a quick check through Instagram as they stroll out of Cinema 48 and into the cold night air, where the smell of grilled meat from the steakhouse next door fills Leo’s nose. He sees that his selfie with Guang-Hong has around five-hundred likes and comments from Leo’s classmates from music theory.

There’s also a notification that someone with the handle  **phichit+chu**  would like to follow Leo, but their icon is a hamster, so he just ignores it.

 

* * *

 

The guy comes in a week after, tossing a box of Swedish Fish and peanut M&M’s on the counter. Leo scrunches his nose because  _ick Swedish Fish_ , but gives a smile to the guy and adds on the two large popcorns that’s asked of him.

“So I saw the movie,” Leo announces and he sees the guy’s eyes light up with excitement.

“And? How was it? Blew your mind, right?” he says, and imitates the sound of his brain exploding with hand gestures included.

Leo laughs, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh, not really? I mean, I kind of was expecting it to change my life from how you were talking about it, but it was alright? The trading card part was weird, I didn’t get that. But the music was good!” Leo says. The guy rubs his chin and hums, pursing his eyebrows downwards in deep thought.

“Yeah, that’s about the same thing that my friend said. But I just figured it was just because he was too busy sucking face with his boyfriend that he wasn’t paying attention,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “Okay, second question. You have an Instagram?”

Leo blinks. “Uh, yeah. Why? Do you want to follow me or something?” he asks. Not that that’s weird or anything, just that he figures that he would have learned the guy’s  _name_ first.

The guy nods his head. “I actually sent you a follow request on Saturday,” he says and Leo cocks his head to the side, trying to remember and think and-

“. . .Wait,  _you’re_ phichit+chu?” Leo asks and a smile breaks over the guy’s face, bright and cheeky.

“Yeah!”

“Why do you have a hamster as your icon?”

“Cause they’re cute!” the guy chirps, showing off his phone case that also has a picture of a hamster eating a sunflower on it. Leo shrugs, agreeing with a nod of his head even though he finds himself more of a reptiles and dogs kind of guy.

“So,” the guy says, holding out his hand to Leo, “Phichit Chulanont. I post aesthetically pleasing pictures of the park next to my apartment, a reasonable amount of selfies, and hamsters. Lots of hamsters.”

Leo reaches out and takes the guy’s – Phichit, his name is Phichit. It’s nice, it’s memorable and echoes in Leo’s head like a bright sound of crackling energy – hand.

“Leo de la Iglesia. I caption most of my pictures with relevant lyrics and have the occasional selfie, but I like to take pictures of stuff I think is funny. Like, probably sixty percent of my Instagram is just weird shit I find on the subway going home.”

Phichit laughs. “Okay, sounds cool! So, you’re going to accept my follow request and follow back, right?”

Leo nods his head, finding that his cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling for too long. Also, the popcorn that Phichit ordered isn’t sitting on the counter yet. He looks over at Guang-Hong over his shoulder, who for some reason is scooping the popcorn  _agonizingly_ slow into the large buckets.

“Guang-Hong?” Leo calls out and Guang-Hong looks over his shoulder as Leo gestures to Phichit. “He has to get to his movie?” he says with his voice tapering off at the end in confusion.

Guang-Hong offers up a small smile of apology to Phichit, shovels the rest of the popcorn at a quicker pace and places it on the counter. Phichit pays for his food and collects his change from Leo to slip back into his wallet, taking the food into his arms with a wink to Leo once more.

Phichit’s haul selfie this time has Leo and Guang-Hong photobombing behind him, but Phichit doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

When he is out of earshot, Guang-Hong says, “I was trying to give you time to flirt with him.”

Leo chokes on air, whirling his head over to look at Guang-Hong giving a sorry-not-sorry shrug.

“I wasn’t flirting with him just now. Besides, I thought we already established that he probably has a date or something because he orders so much food,” Leo says.

“That’s just a theory. We don’t know that for sure. And you  _too_ were flirting with him,” Guang-Hong states with a wrinkle of his freckled nose. Leo scoffs.

“Was not.”

“Was too.”

“Was not.”

“Was  _too_.”

Leo flicks a stray popcorn kernel on the counter at Guang-Hong’s face to end the debate.

 

* * *

 

 _The King and the Skater_ gets removed from the theater two weeks from Leo learning Phichit’s name. Phichit’s visits to the movie theater drop a considerable amount. He still chats with him on Instagram, which soon evolves into texting each other for the next two weeks, but it doesn’t compare to the face-to-face interaction they had. 

He tries to not look so bummed out in front of Guang-Hong to avoid another ‘you  _do_ have a crush on him’ chat. The last thing he wants is Georgi overhearing and trying to offer Leo his ‘brilliant’ love advice.

On a Friday night, just before Leo clocks out so he can go home and crash on his lumpy couch, he spots Phichit casually strolling in through the door with his hands in his pocket. Following close behind him are two men with arms tightly interlinked.

Neither of them are paying attention to where they’re walking, since the taller guy with silvery hair nearly knocks over the trashcan he passes by. Leo knows this type of couple; they’re the ones that hold up the line giggling to themselves and arguing over who gets to treat who to expensive movie snacks.

Phichit spots him in the lobby and separates from the couple to approach Leo with that smile of his. The tickle magically appears at the back of Leo’s throat again, like it’s always been there and has now awoken from its slumber at the sound of Phichit’s voice.

“Hey! You’re not behind the counter,” Phichit observes, eying Leo’s entire uniform from head to toe. Leo sticks his hands in his pockets and shifts from left to right.

“Just got off. What brings you in here? I haven’t seen you in a month,” Leo says, then furrows his eyebrows because had he really been counting how long has it been since he’s seen Phichit???

Phichit doesn’t seem to notice Leo’s confusions with himself, and juts a thumb behind him at the couple currently at the snack counter and torturing Georgi with their lovey-dovey aura.

“Just being a third-wheel with my friend and his boyfriend. We’re going to see that new action thriller flick that just came out, but I’m probably going to be the only one watching it,” Phichit says with a sigh.

Leo winces. “That’s got to suck,” he says, but Phichit quickly shakes his head.

“No, no! I mean, I don’t mind or anything. I’m  _really_ happy they’re together, because it took me  _forever_  to even hook Yuuri up with him. Ah-” Phichit quickly takes a moment to point out that the shorter of the duo is Yuuri while the taller one staring at him completely dumbstruck in love is Victor, before he continues.

“It’s kind of like watching the fruits of my labor flourish, you know? So, it’s not bad. Me and Yuuri still hang out,” Phichit laughs, rocking back and forth on his heels. Leo laughs too, listening to how the sound mixes with Phichit’s and finds that it’s quite nice, nestling sweetly into his ears until the laughter tapers off into a soft sigh.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you from heading home to relax. I should go find a seat while they get the snacks,” Phichit says with a lazy wave of his hand in Victor and Yuuri’s direction. When Leo glances over at them, Yuuri is still looking at the menu board trying to figure out what to order while Victor’s arms snake around his waist and he buries his face in Yuuri’s hair. Georgi looks like he’s going to burst into frustrated tears at any second.

“Uh, well actually,” Leo begins, eyes going to look upwards at the mural of Hollywood classics on the ceiling. “You know, I kind of wanted to see this movie. So, if you and your friends don’t mind me tagging along? So you won’t be third-wheeling? Not that you  _have_ to agree or anything cause this is supposed to be your night with friends and all-”

“Sure!” Phichit cheers, punching Leo playfully in the shoulder. Leo smiles, then holds his shoulder because he didn’t expect Phichit to punch  _that_ hard. Phichit laughs, reaching for Leo’s loose hand without any hesitation. Phichit’s hand is warm and soft against Leo’s palm, and his fingers curl around his hand just right that the tickle in the back of Leo’s throat turns to sudden dryness that is difficult to swallow down.

“Let’s introduce you to the lovebirds,” Phichit says.

Leo swallows down the dry itch and it sits like a stone in his lungs as he smiles.

“Yeah, sure thing.”

 

* * *

 

“I can’t believe you went on a date with him and I had to find out about it through Instagram,” Guang-Hong says with a pout over his open textbook. Leo rolls his eyes and tries to look over the calculus homework he’s supposed to be helping Guang-Hong with. High school calculus is different than college calculus, in that college calculus is not needed for a music major and therefore is something Leo stays  _far_ away from. He’s amazed at how much he’s forgotten in just one year of being out of high school; these formulas and questions might as well be written in pig Latin because he’s not understanding  _shit_. 

“It was hardly a date since his friends were there and we were watching a movie. Movies are terrible for a first date. Plus, the theoretical lover still needs to be proven they don’t exist,” Leo says, taping the tip of his pencil to a problem and wondering if it will just write the solution on its own.

“If they don’t, would you ask him out on a date?”

“I’m supposed to be helping you with your calculus right now, not talking about hypothetical dates,” Leo says, raising the sheet of paper directly to his face. Nope, the answers are still not coming to him.

“Come  _on_ , Leo. You haven’t had a date since you were a junior and that guy turned down your prom proposal. What, do you think he’s going to reject you or something?” Guang-Hong asks. He closes his textbook, and Leo doesn’t know if his concern is genuine or if it's a great opportunity to procrastinate and talk about something juicy.

Leo sighs and twirls the pencil in between his fingers. “No, it’s not that. I just. . .I don’t even know much about the guy. All we do is send each other memes and dog photos. He might not even be interested in dating if the theoretical lover doesn’t exist, let alone dating a  _guy_ ,” Leo mutters, leaning back to rest on his hands.

“He’s cute and everything, but I don’t know, man. I think that. . .I don’t know, I should just take things slow. Baby steps and stuff,” Leo says with a sigh.

Guang-Hong gives him this  _look_ , and Leo turns his face to the mountain of stuffed animals resting on the bed and judging Leo with shiny black and blue eyes. He groans and flops onto his back, looking up at Guang-Hong’s ceiling and raises the homework back up to his face.

“So, anyways,” Leo begins, “what does your book say about problem seven?”

 

* * *

 

Leo finds when he clocks in on a Sunday morning that someone has defaced the Jean-Jacques Leroy standee. Probably Yuri; Leo knows the guy has some weird personal vendetta against the actor for whatever reason. He also sees that Phichit is taking a selfie in front of it, while Georgi standing a few feet away behind the food counter, has yet to realize that the standee has drawn on glasses, mustache and a penis on its cheek that wasn’t there yesterday. 

“You’re here early,” Leo muses and Phichit looks up from his phone. He smiles at Leo just as bright as normal, which is weird because in Leo’s opinion, it’s too damn early to be so happy with a smile so bright and filled with enough energy to power a small country.

“Morning!” Phichit greets and crosses his arms. “It’s better to come in the mornings! Cheaper too for a starving college student such as I,” Phichit says and Leo scoffs.

“Probably should skip buying all that snack bar food for you and your date,” Leo says with a little chuckle. Phichit blinks, placing his hands on his hips.

“Date?”

Leo blinks as well, just as confused. “. . .Yeah? Wait, you’re not telling me you eat  _all_ that food by yourself, are you?”

Phichit’s cheeks puff up in indignation. It’s cute, like a hamster with overstuffed cheeks. “It’s not my fault your popcorn is so freaking delicious,” Phichit accuses like its somehow Leo’s fault. Leo  _gapes_.

“I can’t even finish  _one_ of those things and you can finish  _two?_ ” Leo says, looking Phichit from head to toe like he’s being faced with some sort of celestial being that has taken the form of a cute Thai college boy that loves hamsters and Instagram.

Phichit shrugs. “I do a lot of food challenges with Yuuri for fun and to get my meal for free. Your child-sized-buckets are nothing compared to what we had!” Phichit proclaims with a laugh, and suddenly his eyes light up with such a  _spark_  that Leo feels as if he’s swallowed his tongue. Phichit reaches out and grabs Leo’s hands, yanking him close as if to make whatever that comes out of his mouth next just a little secret between them two.

“In fact, there’s this new ramen bar that opened up by my place. Yuuri’s tagging along with me, which means that Victor is probably going to show up along with him, so do you want to be a fourth wheel again if you’re free?” Phichit asks, bringing Leo’s hands together like a prayer. “It’s really good, I hear. There’s a karaoke bar not too far away from it either, and we could have a really fun night?”

Phichit is smiling throughout his pitch, but his voice sounds a little bit distracted and lightens at the end. His hands are really soft, Leo thinks. In this small distance, Leo finds out that Phichit smells really nice as well. It’s a scent that Leo can’t pick out and give a name to, but it warms his lungs when he tries to breathe it in ever so subtly.

“I,” Leo begins, and his mouth is a little bit dry, “Sure. Yeah. I don’t mind tagging along.”

Phichit exhales a sigh that rides up Leo’s spine like the gentlest of touches, and he squeezes Leo’s hands.

“Great! I’ll pick you up Friday night so you won’t have to take the train! See you then!” he beams.

When his hands slip away from Leo’s grasp, Leo is suddenly aware that his hands are fucking  _sweaty_. He awkwardly wipes his palms on the sides of his thighs and watches Phichit stroll off to theater five. A historical drama is currently airing in that theater, the one that Guang-Hong said his teacher will offer extra credit to those that bring in a ticket stub and write a brief summary about it.

Leo moves to take his spot behind the counter, and listens to Georgi screech aloud as he finally sees the Jean-Jacques Leroy standee and runs to take it down.

 

* * *

 

Phichit Chulanont is twenty-one years old and a film major in hopes of becoming a director. He also must have a black hole for a stomach, because Leo cannot believe his eyes as he watches Phichit slurp down ramen from a bowl that takes up 1/4th of the available table space. 

He grunts something out and Yuuri picks up the small timer placed on the table.

“Twenty-five more minutes,” Yuuri announces, and Phichit sticks his face further into the bowl to eat faster. Leo’s barely touched his own bowl; he’s too captivated by the sight. Victor and Yuuri don’t seem to pay any mind to it, continuing to their little talk about Victor’s patients and Yuuri’s second-grade students.

Phichit finishes the bowl with two minutes remaining on the timer, slurping down the last bit of broth down his throat and raises a triumphant fist in the air.

Phichit slumps in the booth, exhaling a heavy sigh. “I think I’m going to die,” he announces.

“I hope not. You’re my ride home,” Leo says. Phichit laughs, then holds his stomach with a groan.

“Oh god, it hurts to laugh. Don’t be funny, Leo,” Phichit pleads as the server takes away the large bowl and timer. They still hover around, just in case Phichit needs to vomit and the challenge will be considered null and void. Yuuri rests his chin in his hands and furrows his eyebrows.

“I hate you for eating so much and never getting fat,” Yuuri says, giving a gentle but petty jab of his finger into the side of Phichit’s stomach. It draws a burp from Phichit, and Leo pulls his bowl closer to him and out of the splash zone.

“I like it when you’re nice and soft, Yuuri,” Victor purrs, his voice oozing sex and charm and even making  _Leo_ get hot under the collar. Unless it’s his spicy ramen. It’s probably the ramen.

“That’s my leg, Victor,” Phichit groans out,  _so full_. Leo feels a foot quickly bump against his in retreat, the flirty smile not wavering at all on Victor’s lips. Yuuri’s skin blotches pink for only the briefest of seconds, before he just goes back to smiling and laughing and continuing their game of footsie like they’re teenagers instead of grown men.

They loiter around in the restaurant and let the minutes tick by. Since Victor and Yuuri are planning on taking an Uber home, they order some beers for themselves while Phichit tries to drink some water and Leo sips from his soda. Three more months until he can openly ask for a beer from his father in front of his mom instead of sneaking one from the fridge when she’s not looking.

“Are you still going to karaoke?” Yuuri asks, slumped in the booth beside Phichit and face aglow from five bottles of beer. Leo jolts in his spot when he feels a foot brush against the inner part of his thigh, clanging the table with his sudden movement. Yuuri offers a slurred apology, and Victor personally reaches underneath the table to move Yuuri’s foot to its intended destination.

“I think I’m going to die,” Phichit repeats. “But yeah, I can go for karaoke. How about you two?”

“Kinda tired,” Yuuri mumbles, but his eyes are on Victor and hazed over. Victor’s expression is the same, running his tongue over his lower lip.

“You two are insatiable,” Phichit says aloud. His words go ignored by Victor and Yuuri as Victor raises his hand for the check.

 

* * *

 

“It wasn’t a date,” Leo tells Guang-Hong the literal second the boy gets around the counter to relieve Georgi for lunch the next day. Guang-Hong facepalms. 

“You two went to karaoke and he drove you home!”

“ _We_ go to karaoke with the music group all the time!” Leo exclaims. Guang-Hong facepalms again.

“How many ‘not-dates’ are you going to go on with him until you actually go on a  _real_ date?” Guang-Hong asks and Leo rubs the back of his neck. “Dude, you  _are_ afraid of him rejecting you.  _Why?_ He’s nice and he makes you smile and his eyeliner looks better than that chick you dated sophomore year.”

Leo nods in agreement, groaning to himself. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Guang-Hong, rejection it. . .it really fucking  _sucks_. Like, you get your hopes up and you think you’re on the same wavelength with someone and there’s some good vibes happening between you, and then when you find out it’s  _not_ how you see it, it’s like someone sucker-punches you in the head and the gut. I don’t want to put myself through that again, so I just want to be sure.”

“How sure?”

“Five-hundred percent sure.”

“How sure are you right now that he likes you?” Guang-Hong asks. Leo tilts his head from side to side, tossing around the idea in his head.

“. . .Seventy percent.”

Guang-Hong facepalms, and then hits Leo smack in the forehead as well before he heads to grab some nacho containers.

 

* * *

 

Victor proposes to Yuuri on a Friday in May. There’s a picture from Phichit’s Instagram of the couple on the ground hugging each other and Phichit captions it ‘ **im so proud of these crazy kids #bestman** ’. 

“When’s the wedding?” Leo asks Phichit on a Tuesday afternoon he’s free from work and school. He hands Phichit a pack of marranitos from the vendor, then picks out two chocolate empanadas. Phichit opens the package to take a bite out of one of the pastries, the expression on his face something Leo can only describe as ‘orgasmic’ and makes Leo’s jaw go a little slack.

“Winter, maybe before Victor’s birthday but after Yuuri’s,” Phichit says. Leo pays for the sweets before they continue down the street, occasionally bumping into each other as they keep with the others pace.

It’s warming up now, but now that he thinks about it, Leo’s always a little bit more warm when he’s near Phichit. Warm in his belly and beneath his skin, in his lungs and along his bottom lip that Leo always pulls between his teeth whenever Phichit does the smallest of things to catch his eye.

“You’re the best man?” Leo asks

“I’m confident I will be. I  _did_ set them up,” Phichit says with a proud smile and shrug of his shoulders. “Only thing is, I can use a date to go with,” Phichit murmurs, and he looks to Leo. “Do you mind? Being my date? Yuuri is like, the  _best_ drunk you will ever party with, and I could use an extra witness to remember for him what happened on his wedding night.”

Leo laughs, taking a bite out of an empanada and tasting chocolate on his tongue.

“Yeah, sounds like it will be fun.”

“It will. Maybe you can even DJ or something! That mix you sent me was  _really_ good. I feel like running five marathons before climbing a mountain with my bare hands when I listen to it,” Phichit boasts and Leo laughs again as they pause at a stoplight.

When the light turns green for them to cross, Phichit’s hand casually wraps around Leo’s free hand. Phichit does it so many times that now, Leo doesn’t get as fazed. He’s memorized the feel of Phichit’s fingers twining between his and how Phichit’s thumb always rubs little circles into his skin.

“Always hold hands while crossing the street,” Phichit coos to Leo with a wink and a gentle squeeze.

Their hands are still tightly clasped when they get back onto the sidewalk. Leo doesn’t want it any other way.

 

* * *

 

“You two are dating. I’m not taking any other excuse,” Guang-Hong says, tossing the skeet-ball up the track to land him five hundred points. Phichit is currently getting more points for his and Leo’s game cards, which gives Leo enough time to freak out to Guang-Hong about how  _cool_ Phichit looks in his leather jacket and  _ohmygod_ , did you  _see_ how many points he racked up in that shooter game????? 

“It’s. . .well we’ve been hanging out with each other for the last three months. . .what if it’s too soon? Guang-Hong, I  _really_ like him. What if I’m reading this wrong and he just thinks we’re friends?”

“He’s  _going_ to think you only want to be friends if you don’t do something that pushes you out of the friend zone. Why am I even giving you love advice? You’re the one that’s been on more dates than me anyways,” Guang-Hong says with a pout, rolling the skeet-ball again to get another five hundred points.

Leo rubs his neck. “I don’t know-”

“Leo, he likes your dog and your creepy iguana, you both are terrible at karaoke, he hogs you every other weekend which I’m just a little bit peeved at, but whatever,” Guang-Hong says with a shrug, turning to look at Leo and wrinkles his nose.

“He likes you.  _Like-likes_ you,” Guang-Hong says, smiling.

Leo nudges Guang-Hong shoulder, a pleasant burn rising in his cheeks that only gets hotter when Phichit returns waving the game cards and challenges Leo to a round of Dance Dance Revolution with a wink of his eye.

 

* * *

 

“ _This_ is your music collection?!” 

Leo tries to keep his nerves steady as Phichit immediately runs to the records neatly arranged on the first shelf. He runs his fingers over the sides, not looking for any album in particular, and pulls free a vinyl of  _Diamond Dogs_  still in the plastic wrapping. Phichit whistles, turning it over in his hands to admire the artwork, before he slips it back on the shelf and starts searching through them more.

“How’d you collect all these?” Phichit asks, holding  _Physical Graffiti_ loosely between his fingers. Leo walks over to the shelf, running his finger over it and finding he needs to dust them down.

“Got most of them from family members. My tía, she used to work at a radio station when she was younger and got me these tapes right here,” Leo says and gently nudges a leather suitcase on the bottom of the shelf with the tip of his worn-out Converse.

He glances up as Phichit takes out  _Amor Prohibido_ , and he smiles. “My dad gave that one to me. Acutally, most of these albums are hand-me-downs from him,” Leo admits.

“What’s your favorite one?” Phichit asks and Leo rubs his forehead.

“I can’t pick  _one_ favorite. That’s like asking me to pick my favorite child. I know I have one, but it’ll seem like the other ones aren’t as good if I name it outloud,” Leo explains and Phichit snorts.

“Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s like if someone asks me what my favorite movie is,” Phichit says with a hum, placing the Selena album back onto the shelf to crouch down and take  _Kinks_ into his hands. Leo raises an eyebrow, crouching down beside Phichit.

“I thought it was  _The King and the Skater_.”

“Pfft, nah. It’s in my top five, but not my  _favorite_ ,” Phichit muses. He pulls free  _Electric Ladyland_ , and he actually gasps. Then, he carefully places it on the shelf so the cover is visible and takes a picture of it.

“Uh, do you want to listen to it? I got my abuelo’s old record player somewhere in here,” Leo says and Phichit pulls his lower lip in between his teeth. Leo’s hands start getting sweaty again.

“ _Yes_ ,” he says, like it’s an offer that Leo can still take back if he wants. But Leo doesn’t want to. He feels a spark build at the base of his spine and incite him to move to search through all his old rock magazines and stray sheets of music paper, finally finding it underneath some homework that’s already been graded and should be tossed in the trash.

He dusts it off and plugs it in, then readies the first record and drops the needle.

There’s no seats in Leo’s music collection room since he uses all the space for the bookshelves and recording equipment and his keyboard, so Phichit and Leo lie on the floor and stare up at the ceiling while the music washes over them in a groggy relaxing haze. Leo quietly mouths the words to himself, his hands playing air guitar riffs.

Talk between them is scattered between listening to music and Leo getting up to flip the record over. Phichit edges closer and closer to Leo with each song, till when Leo lets his hand fall to his side, Phichit’s hand is there to graze his knuckles against.

By the end of “Long Hot Summer Night”, Phichit’s pinky has hooked its way around Leo’s.

After “All Along the Watchtower” ends, their hands are tightly locked together and Leo is now three hundred percent sure Phichit likes him back.

 

* * *

 

Leo’s percentage of ‘does Phichit  _like-like_  me’ increases to four hundred percent sure after Phichit starts greeting him and departing from their outings with a hug that lasts too long for only friends, and at the same time isn’t long enough for Leo to truly feel how Phichit feels against him in his arms like a puzzle piece fitting perfectly into place. 

Leo is still one thousand percent scared out of his mind to make the first move.

“Why did you pick this movie?” Phichit laughs as he falls onto the couch beside Leo. There’s not even an inch of space between them, and Phichit changed into some loose clothing to relax in. Phichit’s apartment is bigger than Leo’s, since apparently Yuuri lived with Phichit up until March and he has yet to find another roommate.

The apartment is conveniently close to the movie theaters and Phichit’s job at the Apple store. Leo tries not to think too hard about what it would be like to walk Phichit to work and vice versa.

“You have like  _five thousand_ movies. I couldn’t spend my time to thoroughly look through each one and pick a movie,” Leo says defensively. Phichit laughs to himself, resting his head on Leo’s shoulder. Leo tenses at the sudden contact, and Phichit immediately lifts his head back up.

“Oh, sorry,” Phichit apologizes and Leo quickly shakes his head.

“N-No, it’s alright,” Leo quickly says, giving his shoulder a few pats and then seconds later wondering why the fuck did he just do that?

Phichit just laughs again, not like his usual bright and loud and energetic outbursts. It’s a dull hum that tickles the inside of Leo’s chest, like a flapping of butterfly’s wing that moves up his throat and makes him laugh too, infectious and making Leo relax against the couch.

Phichit rests his head back on Leo’s shoulder. Ten minutes in, Phichit says, “You can put your arm around me if you want.”

It’s stilted, but Leo moves his arm around Phichit’s shoulders and Phichit leans more of his weight into Leo. Phichit’s hair tickles Leo’s nose, and that warm smell floats into Leo’s lungs and remains the entire night.

When Leo gets home, he honestly can’t remember what the movie was they watched. But he can say that the scent Phichit smells like the most is sunflowers and honeycomb.

 

* * *

 

“Can I ask you a question?” 

“You just did.”

Leo makes a face at Phichit, while Phichit just smiles around his spoon of frozen yogurt. Leo wishes he could say he enjoys the summer heat of July, but how the sweat makes his shirt cling to his skin and pools underneath his thighs makes him long for winter. The sloppy manbun Phichit tied his hair into is helping much, but stealing bites out of Phichit’s yogurt does make it not  _as_ bad.

“How did you even find my Instagram anyways?” Leo asks, taking a sip from his smoothie. Phichit hums, leaning back in his chair to look up at the sky.

“It’s classified information,” Phichit says. Leo’s foot slides in between Phichit’s legs to push the chair back even more. He jolts from the surprise and nearly spills his yogurt all over his green tank and the ground. Leo laughs, shielding himself from a yogurt covered blueberry being thrown at his exposed forehead.

“My boss is Anya’s boyfriend. I just asked her for your name when she was in the store visiting and typed your name in just to double check,” Phichit explains. Leo hums; Georgi is going to be moody as hell when he finds out about that.

They sit in silence and watch people filter in and out of the yogurt place, and the people walking around the outdoor mall with bags hanging off their arms and cool drinks to beat the heat.

“Can I ask  _you_ a question?” Phichit asks. Leo fans himself with a napkin, raising his eyebrow.

“Sure.”

“Do you think about kissing me?”

Leo hand accidentally smacks himself right in the face.

“W-What,” Leo clears his throat since his voice got squeaky all of a sudden and his heart is beating  _way too fast_ , “What do you mean?”

“Exactly like I said it,” Phichit says bluntly, pointing at Leo with the end of his spoon. “Do you think about kissing me?” Phichit asks again, like he’s asking something trivial like Leo’s favorite song or what’s the time.

Leo finds it hard to look Phichit directly in the eye, so he instead stares at the mascot for the yogurt store on the window and says “Yeah”.

Phichit hums, and suddenly he’s closer, inching towards Leo till there’s about an inch of space between their arms from touching.

“Like a lot?” Phichit asks.

Leo swallows and takes a sip of his smoothie. It doesn’t help to make his throat any less dry.

“I. . .a little. Sometimes. Not too often that it’s creepy but. . .” God, what is he supposed to even say right now? He sounds stupid, and now that his mind is pondering his words and the situation and the way how he feels Phichit’s knee bumping against his, he wonders if this is a confession. It feels right in his chest, and the tension in his shoulder blades works itself out with each deep breath he exhales.

“Yeah,” Phichit says and he grins with a smile that ignites something in Leo’s throat. “I think about it sometimes too. You know, like when you’re gushing about your latest composition and you use a bunch of words that I don’t really understand, but your eyes light up when you talk about it like it’s your baby. I kind of wanted to kiss you then.”

“Oh,” Leo says, because that’s all he can muster up.

Phichit hums, looking up through his eyelashes. “Yeah. Not in a make-out kind of way, though. I mean, yeah I  _do_ want to make-out with you if you’re cool with it. But also, I’ll be fine with kissing you on the cheek, or on your hands where they’re all calloused from playing guitar, maybe a couple times on your nose because it’s just cute. Just. . .kissing you seems like it will be nice. You know what I mean?” Phichit asks.

Leo nods his head. “Yeah. . .Yeah I do.”

Phichit smiles, brushing his arm against Leo’s.

“Cool,” he laughs, and takes a sip of Leo’s smoothie.

 

* * *

 

“So, uh yeah. He likes me. Like, 'over five hundred percent sure, we made out a little bit in his car before he dropped me off at my place' sure,” Leo tells Guang-Hong when he sees him at work three days later. 

“I  _told_ you,” Guang-Hong says and then pouts. “I should have bet some money on it.”

Leo hums, smile coming to his lips as he thinks about Phichit. He likes him. He  _like-likes_  him.

Leo keeps the stupid smile on his lips for his entire shift.

 

* * *

 

On the first week of August, Phichit is the one that makes offer for Leo to move in with him before school starts up again. 

“There’s enough room for your entire music library, the apartment is fine with pets but my hamsters go  _nowhere near_ Rex. Rent is due every third Wednesday of the month and the neighbors next door are pretty chill but the lady two doors down is nosy as hell,” Phichit says while Leo watches one of Phichit’s hamsters dash by in a bright pink orb.

“Hmm, anything else?” Leo asks, like there really is anything that will make him say no. Phichit could be living in a hovel with three little goblins as his pets instead of three little hamsters, and Leo will still happily pack up all his stuff to live with him. Phichit tilts his head from side to side, then fans his arms out.

“Well, this is a limited time offer only so you have to act fast, but if you say yes to living with me, that means you can have your boyfriend as your roommate. Best of both worlds,” Phichit says, turning around so Leo can see all the angles of Phichit wearing a faded Star Wars shirt and basketball shorts.

“Really?” Leo says with a chuckle. Phichit nods his head, strutting back and forth in front of Leo.

“Yeah. I can make delicious meals such as Fruity Pebbles and toaster waffles, I don’t hog the bathroom early in the morning,” Phichit raises his arms above his head and starts to stretch, “I have Netflix  _and_ Hulu accounts.”

Leo hums. “That  _is_ a plus,” he muses aloud and Phichit nods his head, doing a little shimmy.

“You can have all of this and more. All night, every night Leo de la Iglesia,” Phichit says and he does another turn. Leo can’t hold it in any more and he bursts out laughing, bringing his hands over his mouth and his body curling inwards. Phichit cracks a grin and falls onto the couch, crawling to straddle Leo by his hips and gently hold Leo’s face in between his hands.

“So yeah?” Phichit asks, kissing the corners of Leo’s eyes before he moves down his cheeks and just hovers his lips teasingly over Leo’s mouth. Leo’s hands slide up to hold Phichit by his hips, and the tip of his nose brushes against Phichit’s slow and gentle.

“Yeah. Of course. A million times yeah,” Leo breathes warm over Phichit’s smile, and leans up to seal the distance.

**Author's Note:**

> blleeeeeeeggggghhhhh i should probably stick to victuri cause this fic was OTL
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr](http://ebenroot.tumblr.com)


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